MINNEAPOLIS _ The Minneapolis City Council on Friday signed off on a $200,000 settlement to the family of Jamar Clark, bringing to an end an emotional chapter in the city's history of police-community relations.
After briefly retreating to a closed session to finalize the deal, Council President Lisa Bender opened the room to reporters and went around the table asking her colleagues whether they supported the settlement. The final vote was unanimous.
Then, one by one, council members and city attorney Susan Segal quietly filed out of a back door without addressing assembled reporters and photographers. Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, who was also in attendance, declined to comment as he left.
Clark, who was black, was killed in a November 2015 confrontation with two white police officers on the city's North Side, an incident that heightened racial tensions and prompted a weekslong encampment outside a nearby police station. According to the investigation, officer Mark Ringgenberg wrestled Clark to the ground when he felt the man grab onto his gun, and yelled for his partner Dustin Schwarze to shoot Clark. Schwarze told investigators that he fired the fatal after warning Clark to let go of Ringgenberg's gun. The officers were later cleared of criminal wrongdoing in separate local, state and federal probes.
In 2017, the family sued the officers and the city in federal court, claiming they had wrongfully caused Clark's death _ Schwarze was later dropped as a defendant after his use of deadly force was deemed justified. The case languished until this spring when a federal judge prodded both sides into a monthslong mediation process.
The Council rejected a previous five-figure settlement with Clark's family because it was too low, on the same day that it approved a $20 million settlement in the death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, an Australian woman who was fatally shot by a Minneapolis police officer who responded to her 911 call. The since-fired officer, Mohamed Noor, is serving a 12-year prison sentence after being convicted of second-degree manslaughter and third-degree murder.
Under the terms of the Clark settlement, his father, James, and his attorneys will receive $200,000. After lawyers' fees and court expenses, 80% of the remaining money will be distributed between eight relatives: Emma Burns, Danielle Burns, Eddie Sutton, Tiffany Roberson, Kimberly Burns, Javon Sutton, Javille Sutton and Demario Reid. Family members previously said through a lawyer that they agreed with the amount, but had hoped the lawsuit would bring sweeping changes.
On Friday, a handful of activists attended the Council meeting, but all but one of them left before the settlement vote.
Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar, a loose coalition of police reform activists, said in a statement that it would keep pushing for greater accountability, while saying the settlement was further proof of the unequal treatment of black men in the criminal justice system.
"The low amount, 1% compared to the one reached for Justine Damond and the protracted legal battle demonstrates the injustice for black, brown and indigenous people when they are killed by police," said Loretta VanPelt, one of the group's organizers. The family and community will keep fighting for justice by any means necessary."
The settlement came a week after the first meeting of a recently convened work group on police use of deadly force led by Attorney General Keith Ellison and Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington.
A message left for the police union wasn't immediately returned on Friday afternoon, and a spokeswoman for the Police Department said it "typically" doesn't comment on legal matters.
In a statement, Bender said the settlement is a start in promoting healing and justice.
"While I know it falls short in helping our community heal, this settlement does reflect the efforts of Council Members who pushed the City, with my support, to respond with compassion and a broader sense of justice than current laws may define," the statement said.
Mayor Jacob Frey said in a statement that he agreed with the Council's decision.
"The tragic events that unfolded the night of November 15, 2015 catalyzed important and lasting reform in Minneapolis," he said. "And while no amount of money can make Jamar's family whole, I know that this decision was shaped by a common belief that we can and must do better by our community."
In an unrelated development, an attorney in the lawsuit stemming from the 2013 death of Terrance Franklin, another high-profile police shooting, said the long-delayed trial has been pushed back again until next April.
